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Blue Iris vs ZoneMinder
March 09, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
13★
Innovative Video security and Webcam software that allows to record both IP and analog cameras. Supports motion detection with customizable alerts. Allows remote viewing via mobile and web apps.
13★
Full-featured, open source, state-of-the-art video surveillance software system. Monitor your office using off the shelf hardware with any camera, you can design a system as large or as small as you need. Supports motion detection and event-triggered recording.
Blue Iris and ZoneMinder are both video surveillance software, which means they both spend their time staring at things very intently, recording events of monumental importance like a cat walking across a driveway or a suspiciously wobbly bin. They can both send you alerts, stream video and let you check in on things remotely—because, let’s face it, what’s the point of having a surveillance system if you can’t obsessively watch your front porch while on holiday? Both will dutifully catalog every minor movement, ensuring you have an extensive, incredibly boring archive of absolutely everything.
Blue Iris, being a proprietary piece of software, likes to keep things sleek, smooth and very Windows-centric. You have to pay for it, of course, but that’s the price of a polished experience with extra bells, whistles and the occasional AI-powered insight into whether that shadowy figure in your backyard is a person, a deer or an unusually ambitious shrub. It has been loyally guarding American homes and small businesses since 2003, ensuring that if anything remotely interesting happens, you’ll have it in high definition.
ZoneMinder, on the other hand, is open-source, meaning it operates on the noble yet often chaotic principle that if enough clever people poke at it, it will continue to function. Designed for Linux and the sort of person who thinks "self-hosting" is a fun weekend activity, it has been dutifully watching over things from the UK since 2002. It supports an impressive range of cameras and protocols, provided you’re willing to wrestle with it a bit first, much like an old but fiercely independent cat that refuses to sit on your lap unless you’ve truly earned it.
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
Blue Iris, being a proprietary piece of software, likes to keep things sleek, smooth and very Windows-centric. You have to pay for it, of course, but that’s the price of a polished experience with extra bells, whistles and the occasional AI-powered insight into whether that shadowy figure in your backyard is a person, a deer or an unusually ambitious shrub. It has been loyally guarding American homes and small businesses since 2003, ensuring that if anything remotely interesting happens, you’ll have it in high definition.
ZoneMinder, on the other hand, is open-source, meaning it operates on the noble yet often chaotic principle that if enough clever people poke at it, it will continue to function. Designed for Linux and the sort of person who thinks "self-hosting" is a fun weekend activity, it has been dutifully watching over things from the UK since 2002. It supports an impressive range of cameras and protocols, provided you’re willing to wrestle with it a bit first, much like an old but fiercely independent cat that refuses to sit on your lap unless you’ve truly earned it.
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
